Managed IT vs In-House IT: What's Right for Your Melbourne Business?

When your business reaches 10–30 staff, IT complexity increases significantly. You're managing more devices, more user accounts, more software, more risk. At that point, most business owners ask: should I hire someone in-house, or outsource IT to a managed services provider (MSP)?

The answer depends on your size, complexity, budget, and risk tolerance. Here's an honest breakdown from someone who has helped hundreds of Melbourne businesses make this decision.

When In-House Makes Sense

At 50+ employees with complex, business-specific IT requirements — custom software, specialised hardware, or regulated data environments — a dedicated IT person or team often makes sense. They can deeply understand your specific environment and build institutional knowledge over time. The catch: you still need a managed services provider for after-hours monitoring, security, and backup to cover when your IT staff aren't available.

When Managed IT Makes Sense

For most Melbourne businesses with 1–50 staff, managed IT services deliver more capability, more coverage, and more expertise for less than the cost of a single full-time IT hire. You get a team of specialists rather than one person, 24/7 monitoring rather than business-hours support, and a consistent service level that doesn't depend on one person's knowledge or availability.

InfuzeIT's managed IT plans start from $99/user/month and include proactive monitoring, helpdesk support, patch management, backup, and security. That's roughly $2,000/month for a 20-person business — compared to $7,000+ per month for a single in-house IT employee.